DOCSLIB.ORG

Seventh Periodic Report of Ukraine on Implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Seventh Periodic Report of Ukraine on Implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment SEVENTH PERIODIC REPORT OF UKRAINE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT • KHARKIV KHARKIV HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION GROUP 2020 Second edition revised and supplemented This report was prepared with financial support of Ця публікація здійснена за фінансової підтримки Європейського Союзу. За зміст публікації відповідає лише Харківська правозахисна група, і його ні за яких обставин не можна вважати таким, що відбиває позицію Європейського Союзу This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union Seventh Periodic Report of Ukraine on Implementation of the Convention against Tor- ture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment / Y. Zakharov, G. To- karev: compilation; CO «Kharkiv Human Rights Protection group». — «Kharkiv: 2020. — 86 p. This report was prepared by Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group with the support of the United Nations Develop- ment Program (UNDP) and the European Union (EU). The views, expressed in this publication, are those of the authors and may not coincide with the official positions of the UNDP and EU. © Y. Zakharov, G. Tokarev, compilation, 2020 © CO «Kharkiv Human Rights Protection group», 2020 SEVENTH PERIODIC REPORT OF UKRAINE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Contents Page Abbreviations/Glossary.................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Questions 1–9 — Responses to UN issues “List of issues before the reporting” ............................. 6 Questions 10, 11 — Crimes of torture ............................................................................................ 22 Questions 12, 13 — Responsibility of state officials for torture and other crimes ........................ 22 Questions 14 — Investigations of crimes of militants from volunteer battalions ......................... 23 Question 15 — Video recording of interrogations ......................................................................... 25 Question 19 — Independence of judges ......................................................................................... 25 Question 20, 24 — Protection of rights of asylum seekers and IDPs ....................................... 28, 33 Question 23 — Juvenile justice ...................................................................................................... 32 Question 27 — Prisoners’ rights .................................................................................................... 34 Question 28 — Visits of Ombudsman in the framework of the NPM ............................................ 40 Question 29 — Mobile groups’ activities on monitoring of institutions ....................................... 42 Questions 30, 31 — Monitoring of institutions by international bodies and NGOs ...................... 44 Question 32 — Access to places of detention and administrative premises of the Security Service ................................................................................................................... 48 Question 33 — Penitentiary medicine ........................................................................................... 50 Question 34 — Effectiveness of investigation of complaints on torture. Statistics of the State Investigation Bureau .................................................................................. 60 Question 35 — Disciplinary responsibility for ineffective investigations ..................................... 61 Question 36 — The results of criminal investigations into torture .............................................. 62 Question 40 — Means of restraint for persons with mental disorders .......................................... 73 ABBREVIATIONS/GLOssARY AFU Armed Forces of Ukraine ART Antiretroviral therapy ATO Anti-Terrorist Operation CAP Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine CC Criminal Code of Ukraine CGS Court Guard Service of Ukraine CEC Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine CP Criminal proceeding CPC Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman CPT or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Crimea Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol Donbas Donetsk and Luhansk regions ECtHR European Court of Human Rights FLA Free legal aid IDP Internally Displaced Person JFO Joint Forces Operation KHPG Civil organization “Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group” MoD Ministry of Defence of Ukraine MoIA Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine MoJ Ministry of Justice of Ukraine MoH Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights PG Prosecutor-General of Ukraine PI Penitentiary Institution PC Penal Colony PTDC Pre-Trial Detention Centre RONP Regional Office of National Police RRG Rapid Reaction Group SBGS State Border Guard Service of Ukraine SBI State Investigation Bureau of Ukraine SCES State Criminal Enforcement Service of Ukraine SIHC State Institution “SCES Health Centre” SMS State Migration Service of Ukraine SСU Supreme Court of Ukraine SСJ Supreme Council of Justice United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, SPT Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment SSU Security Service of Ukraine THC Temporary Holding Centre for Foreign Nationals and Stateless Persons of the SMS THF Temporary Holding Facility TOT Temporarily Occupied Territory INTRODUCTION In the second half of July 2020, the UN Committee against Torture (hereinafter — the Committee) should consider the Seventh Periodic Report of Ukraine on implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel Treatment. We recall that the previous Sixth Periodic Report of Ukraine was con- sidered by the Committee in November 2014 and the periodic reports are provided once in four years. In early 2017, the Committee provided a list of 42 issues completely covering the problems of torture and ill-treatment to the Government of Ukraine. In November 2018 the Government had prepared a draft of the Seventh Periodic Report. The draft is posted on the website of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine for discussion and it is available at https://minjust.gov.ua/news/announcement/gromadski-obgovorennya- proektu-periodichnoi-dopovidi-ukraini-pro-vikonannya-polojen-konventsii-oon-proti-katuvan?fbclid=Iw AR18NrKG6QsgGcRe_ti02XGCs26mkeWIQwPhwv4rtbLnnfHr0j7TwYjM5Pw. This draft was prepared ahead of many important amendments in legislation and practice which took place in 2015 — 2018. However, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) has prepared the Shadow Report to the draft report of the Government and offers it to the reader. We hope that it will be use- ful for the governmental experts. The KHPG continues the tradition of commenting the periodic reports of the Government on implementation of the UN Convention against Torture. In 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2014 the KHPG prepared and published its Shadow Reports to the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Reports respec- tively. The Shadow Report of the KHPG represents the answers to almost all 42 issues of the UN Committee against Torture. It covers a variety of issues of the respect of the Convention during November 2014 — Au- gust 2019 and it was prepared on the basis of its own information and the information got from the partner organizations and state authorities. The Shadow Report of the KHPG is submitted to the UN Committee against Torture and it aims at comprehensive coverage of the issues of respect of the rights enshrined in the Convention and attraction of the attention of the Committee`s experts to the most actual problems in the sphere of their implementation which in our opinion are not reflected or which are incompletely covered in the draft report of the Government of Ukraine. We admit that during the past five years there have been positive changes and trends in Ukraine. However, we set a goal to present our position regarding the situation with torture and other forms of ill- treatment in the most problematic areas of human rights protection in our country in order to assist the Committee`s experts to get the fullest possible understanding of the problems in this area. In particular, our concern is the problems of impunity in the cases of torture, conflict of the prosecution functions which makes it difficult to effectively investigate the cases of torture, routine practice of violation of the rights to liberty and other rights of detainees, practice of mass violence in penal institutions, and the lack of ad- equate medical care for the persons deprived of liberty. When preparing the Shadow Report, we used the materials of monitoring of the situation of torture carried out in 2014 — 2019 in all regions of Ukraine by the Coalition of human rights organizations «Against Torture», results of the activity of the KHPG Strategic Litigation Center (SLC), and analysis and observa- tions provided by other Ukrainian NGOs. For more information, please refer to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group at [email protected]. The Shadow Report was prepared by the lawyers of the KHPG Gennadiy
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Criminal Legal Definition of the Concept of Torture and Differential Distinction of Torture from Related Crimes
    Issue 4, 2020 Public Administration and Law Review CRIMINAL LEGAL DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF TORTURE AND DIFFERENTIAL DISTINCTION OF TORTURE FROM RELATED CRIMES Alla Radzivill1 1Postgraduate student, Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, assistant judge of the Supreme Court, Kyiv, Ukraine, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The article highlights the clarification and definition of criminal legal concept of torture, the study of peculiarities of this crime corpus delicti and its basic features, distinction from related categories; proposals regarding the improvement of provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine have been formulated. The purpose of writing this article is represented by the study and criminal legal analysis of torture (Article 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), analysis of the main and qualified corpus delicti of torture under the Criminal Code of Ukraine; the identification of types, methods and ways of torture; the definition of the scientific concept of "torture" and related concepts; the determination of criteria for distinguishing the corpus delicti of torture from related crimes under the Criminal Code of Ukraine; the analysis of international legal acts aimed at protecting human rights and preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the analysis of Ukrainian national legislation in terms of its compliance with international law in the field of protection of a person from encroachment on his/her life, health, honour and dignity, which represents torture. The methodological basis of the study is represented by a set of methods and techniques of scientific knowledge, both general and special: historical, functional analysis, system-structural, formal-logical, comparative-legal, formal-legal, generalization.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005
    HUMAN RIGHTS IN UKRAINE – 2005 HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS REPORT UKRAINIAN HELSINKI HUMAN RIGHTS UNION KHARKIV HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION GROUP KHARKIV «PRAVA LUDYNY» 2006 1 BBK 67.9(4) H68 In preparing the cover, the work of Alex Savransky «Freedom is on the march» was used Designer Boris Zakharov Editors Yevgeny Zakharov, Irina Rapp, Volodymyr Yavorsky Translator Halya Coynash The book is published with the assistance of the International Renaissance Foundation and the Democracy Fund of the U.S. Embassy, Kyiv The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005. Report by Human Rights Organizations. / Editors H68 Y.Zakharov, I.Rapp, V.Yavorsky / Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group – Kharkiv: Prava Ludyny, 2006. – 328 p. ISBN 966-8919-08-4. This book considers the human rights situation in Ukraine during 2005 and is based on studies by various non-governmental human rights organizations and specialists in this area. The first part gives a general assessment of state policy with regard to human rights in 2005, while in the second part each unit concentrates on identifying and analysing violations of specific rights in 2005, as well as discussing any positive moves which were made in protecting the given rights. Current legislation which encour- ages infringements of rights and freedoms is also analyzed, together with draft laws which could change the situation. The conclusions of the research contain recommendations for eliminating
    [Show full text]
  • Briefing for the Committee Against Torture on Ukraine
    AI Index: EUR 50/001/2007 PUBLIC To all Committee Members c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Office at Geneva CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland April 2007 Briefing for the Committee against Torture on Ukraine Dear Committee Members, In view of the upcoming session of the Committee against Torture (the Committee), Amnesty International would like to take this opportunity to raise some of the organization’s concerns in relation to the implementation of the Convention against Torture in Ukraine. Despite some positive measures which have been taken in the past two years aimed at preventing torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty International considers that many of the concerns expressed by the Committee following its examination of Ukraine’s fourth report in 2001 are still pressing and some of the Committee’s recommendations are yet to be implemented. In particular, there have been further deportations to Uzbekistan of members of the Uzbek opposition, who were at risk of torture; there continue to be allegations that police ill-treat and torture detainees with the aim of extracting confessions; the authorities fail to carry out prompt, impartial, independent and thorough investigations into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment; there is a lack of clarity about when a detained person can exercise his right to access to a lawyer, and as a result detainees are deprived of their right to legal counsel; overcrowding and a high incidence of tuberculosis in pre-trial detention centres continues to be a problem. Amnesty International is further concerned that individuals who have lodged complaints of torture or other ill-treatment have been subjected to reprisals including ill- treatment and intimidation by police in efforts to dissuade them from pursuing their complaints.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ukrainian Weekly, 2016
    ХРИСТОС НАРОДИВСЯ! CHRIST IS BORN! THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIV-LXXXV No. 52-1 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2016 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2017 $2.00 Sviatoslav Karavansky, Report calls Russian artillery attacks against Ukraine prominent Soviet-era in 2014 ‘acts of war,’ as fi ghting in Donbas escalates political prisoner, dies by Mark Raczkiewycz KYIV – Russia extensively used cross- border artillery fire against Ukrainian mili- tary targets in July-September 2014 in what are considered “acts of war,” accord- ing to a new report by Bellingcat, a group of citizen journalists who use open-source investigation tools and techniques, that was released on December 21. Numbering in the “thousands,” the report says, the cross-border projectiles were the “first and strongest evidence of a direct Russian participation in the fighting.” Although they were already proven to have occurred by Ukrainian officials and the U.S. Ihor Dlaboha government, the new report analyzed the Sviatoslav Karavansky at the Ukrainian extent to which they were used in the sum- National Association in 1980. mer of 2014, when they largely contributed UUARC to stemming a Ukrainian counterattack to Serhiy Yermakov retake the border areas near Russia, and Wounded Ukrainians soldiers get evacuated some 800 meters from the frontline near PHILADELPHIA – Sviatoslav cut off and surround the occupied Donbas Luhanske, a village situated along what is known as the Rostov-on-Don highway,
    [Show full text]
  • IMMIGRATION and PROTECTION TRIBUNAL NEW ZEALAND [2015] NZIPT 800742 at AUCKLAND Appellant: AB (Ukraine) Before: L Moor (Memb
    IMMIGRATION AND PROTECTION TRIBUNAL [2015] NZIPT 800742 NEW ZEALAND AT AUCKLAND Appellant: AB (Ukraine) Before: L Moor (Member) Representative for the Appellant: J Yakunina Counsel for the Respondent: No Appearance Dates of Hearing: 2 & 3 June 2015 Date of Decision: 25 June 2015 ___________________________________________________________________ DECISION _________________________________________________________________ [1] This is an appeal against a decision of a refugee and protection officer, declining to grant refugee status and/or protected person status to the appellant, an ethnic Russian citizen of Ukraine. INTRODUCTION [2] The appellant claims to be at risk of being persecuted because he objects to being forced to serve in the Ukrainian military against ethnic Russians. He also fears harm at the hands of the Ukrainian authorities or pro-Ukrainian extremist groups, as he opposes the current Ukrainian government and fears being viewed as a separatist. [3] The Tribunal finds that the appellant’s account is credible. For the reasons which follow, it finds that the appellant does have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of political opinion. He would face a term of imprisonment if he refuses to serve in the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian military is currently engaged in a conflict in which it commits internationally condemned acts through breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and 2 there is no alternative to service available to him. The Tribunal finds the appellant is a refugee. [4] Given that the same claim is relied upon in respect of all limbs of the appeal, it is appropriate to record it first. THE APPELLANT’S CASE [5] The account which follows is that given by the appellant at the appeal hearing.
    [Show full text]
  • 6003202441.Pdf
    UDC 94(477) S66 True History Series founded in 2018 Translator Ganna Krapivnyk Scientific consultant Serhiy Pechenin Graphic designer Olena Huhalova-Mieshkova Printed on order of the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION If you have purchased this book, please, contact us at: [email protected] © Yu. Soroka, 2018 © G. Krapivnyk, translation, 2018 © О. Huhalova-Mieshkova, graphic ISBN 978-966-03-8514-6 design, 2018 (True History Series) © Publishing House «Folio», series, ISBN 978-966-03-8550-4 2018 CONTENTS Panticapaeum as the Oldest City in Ukraine and Eastern Europe .......6 Scythian Victory Over King Darius’s Persian Troops ....................8 Scythian Victory Over Zopyrion, a Military Commander of Alexander the Great ...........................................10 The Great Slavic Expansion in the 6—8th Centuries ...................12 The Foundation of Kyiv ..............................................14 Prince Oleg’s Campaign to Constantinople ...........................16 Sviatoslav’s Danube Conquests ......................................18 Kyivan Rus Baptization ..............................................20 Kyiv Saint-Sophia Cathedral Construction ............................22 Victory Over the Pechenegs in 1036 .................................24 Anna Yaroslavna, Queen of France ...................................26 The Advent of “The Tale of Bygone Years” ............................28 The Appearance of the Term “Ukraine“ ...............................30 The Coronation of King Daniel .......................................32
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of the Sida Funded Programme of Core Support and Connected Projects in Ukraine
    2015:2 Sida Decentralised Evaluation Cecilia Karlstedt Megan Bick Katerina Stolyarenko Evaluation of the Sida funded Programme of Core Support and connected projects in Ukraine Final Report Evaluation of the Sida funded Programme of Core Support and connected projects in Ukraine Final Report January 2015 Cecilia Karlstedt Megan Bick Katerina Stolyarenko Sida Decentralised Evaluation 2015:2 Sida Authors: Cecilia Karlstedt, Megan Bick and Katerina Stolyarenko The views and interpretations expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. Sida Decentralised Evaluation 2015:2 Commissioned by the Swedish Embassy in Ukraine Copyright: Sida and the authors Date of final report: January 2015 Published by Citat 2015 Art. no. Sida61832en urn:nbn:se:sida-61832en This publication can be downloaded from: http://www.sida.se/publications SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY Address: S-105 25 Stockholm, Sweden. Office: Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm Telephone: +46 (0)8-698 50 00. Telefax: +46 (0)8-20 88 64 E-mail: [email protected]. Homepage: http://www.sida.se Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... V 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • English, Russian
    Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2019 Warsaw Poland, 16 - 27 September 2019 SCHEDULE AND OVERVIEW OF SIDE EVENTS as submitted by the organizers The Helsinki Document of 1992 (Chapter IV) called for increasing the openness of OSCE activities and expanding the role of NGOs. In particular, in paragraph (15) of Chapter IV the participating States decided to facilitate during CSCE meetings informal discussion meetings between representatives of participating States and of NGOs, and to provide encouragement to NGOs organizing seminars on CSCE-related issues. In line with this decision, governments, civil society and other participants are encouraged to organize side meetings at the Review Conference on relevant issues of their choice. The side events below have been organized and scheduled exclusively at the request of participants of the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. The below descriptions have been provided by the organizers and the language in the description is the responsibility of the organizers, including editing for style and grammar. Responsibility for the content remains with the organizers. Neither the text below nor the events themselves necessarily reflect the views of the OSCE. Monday, 16 September Time: 13:15-14:45 Venue: Meeting Room 1 Title: Our Right to Participation – Promoting the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Political and Public Life Convenor: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Working language: English, Russian Summary: Participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life remains limited across the OSCE region. Traditionally persons with disabilities are excluded from decision-making process and are perceived as patients and social service receivers, rather than active and empowered members of the society.
    [Show full text]
  • Andrii Voitsikhovskyi Oleksandr Bakumov Olena Ustymenko Vadym Seliukov
    OBSERVARE Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa e-ISSN: 1647-7251 Vol. 10, Nº. 2 (November 2019-April 2020), pp. 152-165 THE OBSERVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM TORTURE IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF THE NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE (ARTICLE 3 OF THE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS) Andrii Voitsikhovskyi [email protected] Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and International Law of Faculty 4 of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine). Ph.D. in Law. Oleksandr Bakumov [email protected] Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and International Law of Faculty 4 of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine). Ph.D. in Law. Olena Ustymenko [email protected] Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and International Law of Faculty 4 of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine). Ph.D. in Law. Vadym Seliukov [email protected] Associate Professor of Department of Police Administrative Activity of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine). Ph.D. in Law. Abstract The article considers the issue of observance by the bodies of the National Police of Ukraine of human right to freedom from torture or inhuman treatment or punishment. The practice of the European Court of Human Rights testifies that Ukrainians are increasingly applying to the Court for violations of the prohibition of torture or inhuman treatment by the police. The authors noted that the responsibility of the bodies of the National Police of Ukraine to prevent violations of human rights to freedom from torture or inhuman treatment was enshrined both in national law and in international legal documents, especially in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives
    EDITED COLLECTION E-IR.INFO Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives i Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives EDITED BY AGNIESZKA PIKULICKA-WILCZEWSKA & RICHARD SAKwa Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives ii E-International Relations www.E-IR.info Bristol, UK 2015 The material herein is published under a Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt this work under the following conditions: You must attribute the work to both 1) the author, who retains copyright and 2) to the publisher, E-International Relations - but not in any way that suggests that either party endorses you or your use of the work. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you must make this clear when doing so and you must distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission. Please contact [email protected] for any such enquiries. Series Editors: Stephen McGlinchey, Marianna Karakoulaki, and Robert Oprisko Copy Editing: Michael Pang Production: Ran Xiao Cover Image: Paganelj E-International Relations is the world’s leading open access website for students and scholars of international politics.
    [Show full text]
  • DIGEST No 8 (40) by UKRAINIAN HELSINKI HUMAN RIGHTS UNION, USAID HUMAN RIGHTS in ACTION PROGRAM June 2018
    DIGEST No 8 (40) BY UKRAINIAN HELSINKI HUMAN RIGHTS UNION, USAID HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION PROGRAM June 2018 CONTENTS USAID Human Rights in Action Program Updates ............................................................................... 2 Human Rights Monitoring, Analytical Activity and Advocacy ............................................................. 2 Strategic Litigations .......................................................................................................................... 4 Free Legal Aid .................................................................................................................................. 6 Human Rights Education and Awareness Raising ............................................................................ 9 Main Events in Human Rights Area ..................................................................................................... 9 1 USAID HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION PROGRAM UPDATES HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING, ANALYTICAL ACTIVITY AND ADVOCACY National Human Rights Index The National Human Rights Index initiative1 (www.hro.org.ua) covers the monitoring of the National Human Rights Strategy’s execution by the central executive authorities as well as implementation of the Local Human Rights Index (LHRI), which is designed to take into account the priority of human rights in course of the decentralization reform. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Human Rights in Action Program supports the aforementioned work in part of ensuring the rights of internally
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report–2015
    Annual Report–2015 Table of Contents Introduction George Soros 8 Oleksandr Sushko 10 Yevhen Bystrytsky 11 International Renaissance Foundation: Annual Report — 2015 Reforms and Democratic Practice 14 Undeclared War and Its Consequences 34 Human Rights 44 European Integration of Ukraine 56 Projects Supported by IRF in 2015 66 Democratic Practice Program Initiative 66 European Program Initiative 72 Human Rights and Justice Program Initiative 74 Public Health Program Initiative 80 Roma Program Initiative 87 Civic Initiatives of the New Ukraine 91 Strategic Advisory Groups 99 Projects Supported by the IRF Board 101 Funding by Activity Area 104 Supported Projects by Region 105 Summary Financial Statements 105 IRF’s Governing Bodies 112 IRF Staff 114 Contacts 115 New Ukraine and the International Renaissance Foundation in 2015 Annual Report–2015 The International Renaissance Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in Ukraine. The Foundation was established by George Soros, a prominent financier and philanthropist, in 1990. Its mission is to promote open society in Ukraine on the basis of democratic values. 2015 was a landmark for IRF. The Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was a good time for a certain summing up of what the Foundation had achieved. This report is an opportunity to present some thoughts of the Foundation’s leaders about the mission, objectives and the role of the Foundation, alongside the traditional public reporting about the work done by the Foundation in 2015 in the context of civic activism in
    [Show full text]